Life Dungeon Game

"Theoretically speaking, if we induce human somatic cells back into pluripotent stem cells, and then stimulate the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells, we will have the opportunity to 'clone' a person."

"It seems that this technology has encountered some difficulties in its development."

He Ao said calmly.

If cloning technology succeeds, it will be explosive news, and even many years later, people will still mention it. However, there is no related information in the combined memories of his multiple identities.

"The technology to induce somatic cells back into pluripotent stem cells is now very mature, but everyone is stumped when it comes to inducing pluripotent stem cell differentiation in vitro."

Coles nodded and continued to explain.

"Currently, the academic community has not attempted 'human cloning'."

The next step in mainstream 'exploration' is organ cloning, which can help treat many organ diseases and has no ethical or moral obstacles.

"But this step has been a stumbling block for federal biologists for centuries. Strange problems always arise in the process of inducing pluripotent stem cells into specific organs."

"For example, the 'organ' that grows out is not the shape of an organ at all, or it has the shape of a specific 'organ' but does not have the function of the corresponding organ."

"And here, it's necessary to mention a top-secret project that Stars Pharmaceuticals had to abandon fifty years ago. This project was never declassified, and I shouldn't have had access to it originally,"

Coles said with a smile, "But my mentor was among the last group of researchers recruited for this project. While I was learning from him, I overheard snippets of information about these projects."

"Of course, I didn't pay attention to it at the time. It wasn't until I joined Project Mars and performed surgery at the research institute that I remembered this project that I had only heard about by chance."

"In those excerpts, it seems that Stars Pharmaceuticals once achieved some kind of breakthrough in 'organ cloning,' and the project even progressed to the point of recruiting 'volunteers' for organ transplant experiments."

"But my teacher signed a confidentiality agreement, so he would not and could not tell me the details of this project. However, I followed the clues and found the family members of the 'volunteers' who participated in the project."

"Most of these volunteers come from poor families and cannot afford expensive medical care, so they become volunteers. Confidentiality agreements are dispensable to them, so it was easy for me to find out about the project."

At this point, Coles' tone became somewhat emotional.

"First, I learned from the families of these 'volunteers' that almost all of the volunteers who participated in the 'experiment' died, and the longest-lived one did not live for more than a year."

"I found some agreements signed by the volunteers at the time, as well as some descriptions of the situation by the volunteers' families, which roughly reconstructed the events of that time."

"About fifty years ago, Qunxing Pharmaceuticals may have induced the differentiation of organs with normal shape and function. This was an epoch-making achievement, and the group quickly moved the project to human trials."

"But reality quickly poured cold water on the entire project."

"These induced organs are prone to failure and have a lifespan far shorter than normal organs. After being transplanted into a patient, the patient can live a normal life for at most a few months before dying due to rapid organ failure. Most patients do not live more than a year."

"The group should have also conducted research in this area, but they ultimately failed to solve the problem, and the poor clinical results forced the group to suspend the entire project."

"However, the group has not completely abandoned this project."

At this point, Coles's meaning was quite clear.

He looked up at him. "So you think the 'organ cloning' project and the Mars project have merged, and that some of the results of the Mars project have solved the organ failure problem in the 'organ cloning' project?"

But why would the institute put cloned organs into the bodies of those 'volunteers'?

Obviously, that

These organs were probably not cloned for these volunteers.

At this moment, He Ao paused for a moment, and an idea popped into his mind.

"I don't know how they solved this problem,"

Coles said slowly, "But they must have used the bodies of those 'patients,' and that silver metal box and the medicine given to the 'patients' must have contained some kind of key influencing factor that I don't know about."

really,

He looked out the window and saw weak people slowly walking towards the hospital, which looked like a gaping maw in the night.

The 'volunteers' recruited by the research institute are actually 'living petri dishes'.

According to Coles's account, 'cultivating' those cloned organs in the body is extremely taxing on the body and is a life-shortening process.

In other words, the institute's exorbitant "volunteer subsidies" are essentially "life-saving money" paid to those who volunteer but lack funds.

He recalled Pete's memory of the endless stream of people coming to participate in 'research' when she first entered the research institute.

Many people in this city, like Pete, have lost their source of income due to unemployment, but still bear the burden of high loan amounts and enormous living pressures.

"As for the purpose and source of those cloned organs, I don't know. This is all I have access to."

"Sit across from me, Coles said hoarsely. It seemed that talking so much in such a short time was a burden on his body. He picked up his milk and slowly took a sip."

Heo snapped out of his reverie and focused his attention back on Coles; it was time for this Q&A to come to an end.

He took out a clear test tube containing a milky white liquid from his pocket; it was something he had obtained from 'Shadow'.

"Do you recognize this?"

he asked softly.

“This is a ‘life-saving potion’,”

Coles examined the test tube closely. "This is a potion that the institute trades out to the outside world. It can quickly restore vitality. According to Reid, even people who are seriously injured and on the verge of death can recover quickly after drinking this potion. This potion seems to be a byproduct of the Mars Project, but it cannot extend lifespan."

"Does the research institute have many of these drugs?"

He Ao asked.

“Not many,” Coles shook his head. “This kind of potion is very rare, basically in a state of being expensive but not available. The research institute usually uses it to pay the rewards of some strong people, or to barter for them on the black market.”

"Is that so?"

He Ao glanced at the potion in his hand and put it away.

Judging from the physical damage caused by the 'Nightcrawler' talent sequence, this life potion should be very useful for 'Shadow', which is why he was reluctant to use it and only took it out before he died.

After the potion was completely put back, He Ao looked up again and asked, "Where do research institutes usually hide 'life-saving potions' like this?"

“In the ‘safe’ at the very bottom of the institute,” Coles answered slowly, then paused and added, “all the institute’s data is also in that safe.”

"Thank you for informing me."

He Ao stood up with a smile.

"fine."

Coles felt a sense of relief, and

He quickly stood up; all he wanted now was to get out of there as soon as possible.

But soon, He's next words made his heart jump again.

"I have two small favors that I need your help with."

-

Even under the cover of night, the Starry Night Hospital was still brightly lit.

Even late at night, many departments in this hospital are still operating normally.

Heo and Coles walked together, slowly along the road in front of the Stars of Beauty Hospital.

The narrow road was crowded with all sorts of small vendors.

The stalls were arranged in a staggered pattern under the streetlights.

"Orange juice, freshly squeezed orange juice that is both sour and sweet and rich in nutrients."

Shouts and calls came from the road ahead.

A group of people dressed simply, who appeared to be family members of patients, were gathered around the stall, buying orange juice.

These orange juices are very cheap; a large bottle costs less than 2 federal dollars.

The stall also displayed several fresh oranges and a small juicer, seemingly indicating that the orange juice was made from fresh oranges.

But in fact, the stall owner never touched the oranges or the juicer; he just kept squeezing orange juice from a large bucket next to him.

The customers tacitly refrained from asking whether the orange juice was freshly squeezed.

The fruits grown in the Federation are natural fruits and are very expensive. People usually buy them one or two at a time.

The vitamins needed by the human body, as well as people's demand for fruit, are mostly met by purchasing blended fruit juices.

These juices have almost the same nutritional components as fresh fruit, and some even taste exactly the same as freshly squeezed juice.

The only difference is that they are industrially blended products, where various ingredients and water are mixed together, and no fruit is involved in the entire juice production process.

However, these 'juices' are cheap, much cheaper than fruit.

Orange juice is one of the cheapest types of 'juices'.

The fruit juice vendors along the way mostly sell orange juice, and there are a lot of customers buying it.

He bought a glass of orange juice as he passed by.

He took a sip; it was very sour.

The taste is very different from freshly squeezed juice; you can clearly tell it's industrially mixed juice, and the cheapest kind at that.

Coles and Heo walked together in silence.

Back at the hospital, Coles got Heo a doctor's uniform and then lent him his access card.

This is the first request He Ao just made.

The access control system at Qunxing Zhimei Hospital is largely automated. Many areas require appointments to enter, while others are off-limits to the general public.

But this couldn't stop Coles, who was already a 'professor'.

With Coles's access card, Heo could enter most parts of the hospital.

This hospital must have something special about it; there must be some secret behind those corpses that have left no souls.

He needs to go and see for himself.

He went to the emergency room first.

The emergency room building's sign was lit in red against the night sky.

Some people around him turned their attention to He Ao, seemingly wondering where he was a doctor. However, He Ao didn't pay attention to these gazes and calmly walked in.

The emergency room was quiet tonight, with few patients, mostly those with accidental injuries, none of which were serious.

After searching the emergency room without finding anything particularly unusual, He Ao went to the intensive care unit next to the emergency room.

There weren't many patients in the intensive care unit, and most of them had stable vital signs.

He Ao searched around but found nothing, so he quickly left and headed to his next stop, the hospital building.